


a little bit of hope these days

by missjmelville



Category: 9-1-1 (TV)
Genre: Buckley-Diaz Family (9-1-1 TV), Christmas, Christmas Fluff, Diaz Family Feels (9-1-1 TV), Getting Together, Holidays, M/M, Surprises
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-01
Updated: 2021-01-01
Packaged: 2021-03-11 06:35:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,948
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28466916
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/missjmelville/pseuds/missjmelville
Summary: “So you’re taking Buck with you to Texas for Christmas right Eddie?”an innocent question from Chimney sparks last minute changes to Eddie's Christmas plans when he realises Buck is spending Christmas alone and no one else knows because they all assumed he'd be spending it with Eddie and Chris.It wasn’t until about halfway through the flight, Chris fast asleep slumped against the window, that Buck turned to Eddie with a smirk in place and asked “So where are we really going?” He tilted his head back towards the window where he had been pointing things out to Chris earlier, “I know it’s not Texas,”
Relationships: Evan "Buck" Buckley/Eddie Diaz (9-1-1 TV)
Comments: 8
Kudos: 179
Collections: Buddie Discord Secret Elf 2020





	a little bit of hope these days

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Bluejay141519](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bluejay141519/gifts).



> Written for BlueJay, for the Buddie Discord secret Santa fic exchange, requested prompts were Christmas, misunderstandings/miscommunication and concern for Buck. Posting in parts because I have not finished writing it yet but did not want to keep my recipient waiting too long! Completely unbeta'd so if you find any horrible mistakes, that's all me.

“So you’re taking Buck with you to Texas for Christmas right Eddie?” Chimney handed him another beer and looked up expectantly after sitting down across from him. It was team karaoke night and Hen and Maddie were up on the stage singing, Athena and Bobby looking through the selection book for their next duet which left Chimney and Eddie alone at the table while Buck went to the toilet. All of this meant Eddie was entirely unprepared for Chimney’s seemingly out of the blue question and the dread that flooded his system as he realised he’d fucked up. He’d fucked up big time.

“Cos Maddie was really nervous about him being alone for Christmas but it’s our first Christmas with my family and no offence to Buck, but I need this to go well you know, and like, Hen and Karen are going away, Bobby and Athena invited him over to theirs but I heard him turn them down, he doesn’t want to intrude on family time, not like he isn’t family as well but you know Buck,” Eddie was left gaping like a fish at the end of Chim’s monologue and with the undeniable feeling that he had ruined Christmas for everyone.

Unfortunately it was at that moment that Buck returned to their table and Eddie was left floundering for a moment until Chimney took his silence as agreement, nodded happily and turned back to watch Maddie up on the stage. 

“Did I miss something?” Buck asked, seeing Eddie’s deer-in-headlights look, squeezing into the booth next to him. 

“Just Chim mooning over your sister, like usual,” Eddie managed to get out, sounding successfully casual as his mind rushed a mile a minute to figure out how he was going to save Christmas for everyone but especially Buck. 

Buck made a face as if it disgusted him to think about Chim and Maddie together but his eyes sparkled with happiness when he looked towards Chimney who was now whistling enthusiastically at Maddie and Hen on stage. 

If for the rest of the night, Eddie was quieter than usual, nobody really noticed, too excited and drunk to pay much attention when they finally all had Christmas off shift to spend with their families to look forward to. It made sense now, how quiet Buck had been every time Eddie mentioned his and Chris’s plans to visit his parents in Texas. Not that he really wanted to but his parents had paid for the tickets and basically blackmailed him into it. 

With a little subtle asking around over the next few days, it appeared that everyone at the station was convinced that Buck was joining him and Chris in Texas for Christmas and had thus made plans assuming that Buck was unavailable. How this came to be, Eddie wasn’t entirely sure. He and Buck did spend a lot of time together that was true, but going from spending a lot of time together to Buck joining his family for Christmas felt like a weird leap to take. He had to be missing something and how had Buck not corrected anyone yet?

In fact, Eddie had no idea what Buck’s plans were for Christmas in the first place. Every time they’d talked Christmas, Eddie had been complaining about his parents and then any time it turned to Buck, he changed the subject. Looking back, Eddie could see all the signs now that Buck wanted to avoid talking about it, but it also became increasingly clear that Buck was upset and likely going to spend the holidays alone in his loft.

That wouldn’t do, not one bit. And so began operation Christmas Cheer (Chris’s suggestion).

The first thing Eddie needed to do was get out of Christmas with the family, with a little whining to Abuela and a tiny mention that it was for Buck, she managed to convince his parents to refund the tickets and come visit them for New Years instead. He’s not sure how she managed it but once he was off the hook for Texas, he could really get down to organising something for Buck that would make this Christmas perfect.

The second thing he needed to do was find out what Buck would enjoy most and this one was rather easy even if he had to be a little more sneaky about it. He called Maddie and asked if she could meet for lunch, which she agreed readily. Now he couldn’t come out right away and let her know he had forgotten about Buck on Christmas but what he could do is act like he was fishing for the perfect present and tease out the details of Buck’s favourite Christmas activities and places from their childhood.

After a successful lunch and a million ideas swirling around in his mind, the next step was going to be a lot harder. It became quite apparent that Christmas without snow, to Buck, was no Christmas at all and though he had spent the last few years in LA with little to no snow at all, this was something Eddie needed to make sure was included. 

It took some last minute bookings and begging to various travel agencies for help but he was finally able to sort every last detail out two days to spare and no one the wiser to the absolute disaster he had somehow averted. And yet the last part of the plan, was to convince Buck to spend Christmas with him. But he couldn’t tell him where they were going, after everything he had done wrong in the beginning by not paying enough attention to Buck, this had to be the best Christmas surprise possible.

And so, three nights before Christmas, they’re sitting on Eddie’s couch, having just finished Elf, Chris already asleep on the beanbag he got as an early present on the floor by their feet, apropos of nothing, Eddie blurts out: “So Pepa can’t come to Christmas in Texas anymore and we have a spare ticket and I know it’s late notice but do you wanna join us for Christmas?” 

He tried so hard to keep it casual, and he’d already worked out all the details with Pepa and Abuela in case Buck asked, they’d back him up, Chris too if he woke up mid conversation. He kept his face blank and tilted towards Buck as he took a swig of his beer as if he’d just asked him to come hang out any other day. The light in Buck’s eyes that had been dimming day by day as the holidays got closer seemed to burst back into life as Buck whipped his head up so fast Eddie got a crick from watching it.

“Are you sure? I wouldn’t want to intrude,” Buck looked like he was holding onto his emotions so tightly and it made Eddie want to pull him into a big hug, instead he reached out and lay his free hand on Buck’s knee, a neutral spot, something he did often when they had serious talks about emotions and stuff. 

“Yeah of course, besides, Chris would explode with excitement to have his Buck to show off on Christmas Day,” Eddie knew as soon as he mentioned Chris that Buck would fold, maybe it was a low blow but he couldn’t let Buck weasel out of it thinking he wasn’t actually welcome. 

The smile that took over Buck’s face then was radiant and Eddie had to look away briefly before he did something stupid, like kiss him, and his eyes landed on the perfect distraction. 

“So is that a yes?” He asked as he stood up and leant down to pick Chris up, “I gotta get this little man to bed, but you will won’t you? He’ll be ecstatic,” he flicked his eyes back to Buck who was watching them softly, heat rose to Eddie’s cheeks as he distracted himself by settling Chris against his shoulder.

“Yeah I’d love to, thanks Eddie,” Buck replied finally, standing too and taking their empty beer bottles and snack bowls to the kitchen. When Eddie came back out from tucking Chris into bed, the lounge was tidy and the kitchen spotless, Buck hovering awkwardly in the hallway fiddling with his phone.

“Heading home?” He asked as he walked up to Buck, slightly disappointed but not surprised, whenever things got too emotional Buck was usually the first to take off, needing time to process and order his thoughts. It was something Eddie admired in him, something he himself had been working on in therapy. 

“Yeah, I mean, I guess I got some packing to do,” Buck tucked his phone away and smiled up at Eddie, “See you at the airport Christmas Eve morning?” 

“Ah, actually, we’ll be leaving pretty early, it might be best if you stay here tomorrow night, then we can go to the airport together, if that’s okay, as long as you don’t have any other plans?” God why was he so awkward all of a sudden, get it together Diaz. 

“No, that’s cool, I’ll see you around five pm tomorrow?” Eddie was nodding before his lips could form a reply and then Buck was walking out the door and waving goodnight over his shoulder. Eddie watched his jeep pull out of the drive and disappear down the street. 

Fuck. He forgot about the cold weather gear. Buck was going to pack clothes for Texas weather not snow and Eddie hadn’t even thought of that. This wasn’t in his plan. He paced up and down the hallway for a solid five minutes after Buck left thinking how he was going to fix this. The solution, while relatively simple, was going to take some finessing to organise. But he’d come this far, he wouldn’t let something as simple as clothing ruin the surprise. 

Chris was ecstatic the next morning when Eddie confirmed he’d gotten Buck to agree to join them for Christmas ‘with the family in Texas’ but he confided in his son that he needed help making sure Buck had the correct clothes packed and he needed Chris specifically for the job.

So that’s how they ended up at Buck’s loft a little after lunch completely unannounced. 

“Hey, I thought I was coming to your place for dinner?” Were the first words out of Buck’s mouth as he let them in after they knocked on the door, he could’ve used his key but it didn’t feel right, he was already tricking Buck enough for the surprise as it was, he didn’t want to overstep any more than he already planned too.

“Yeah that was the plan, but this little guy,” he paused to ruffle Chris’s curls, “wants to bring along Mr Snuffles and we searched the whole house and he wasn’t anywhere so we’re pretty sure Chris left him here last time he slept over,” it was a good excuse, Chris hardly went anywhere without Mr Snuffles, a little purple stuffed dog that he won at the arcade on his birthday. 

“Okay, I haven’t seen him anywhere and I was just in the middle of packing but I’m sure if we all look it won’t take too long to find him,” Buck always eager to please and help Chris did exactly as Eddie predicted he would. 

“Alright well you two check down here and I’ll check upstairs,” and before Buck could even agree or disagree or point out that it would make more sense for him to check the loft instead of Eddie, he was already halfway up the stairs. He could hear Buck and Chris talking down below as they searched through the couch cushions and Eddie knew he wouldn’t have long.

Buck’s suitcase sat opened on the bed and as Buck had said, only half packed with underwear and toiletries and a nice pair of boots that Eddie thought would work fine for the occasion. A slew of shirts and pants spread out over the bed around the suitcase showed how much trouble Buck was having picking what to wear. 

Quickly and efficiently Eddie raided Buck’s closet and pulled out a few nice sweaters and long sleeve tops that felt like they would be warm enough, as well as a thick jacket that was definitely made for the snow. Next were the handful of thick socks he knew Buck kept in his underwear drawer for when the loft heating just wouldn’t cut it. He folded all the clothes up quickly with military efficiency and stuffed them into the suitcase careful to place everything back on top as it had been. 

He then picked out a couple shirts from the pile on the bed and a couple pairs of pants and folded them away into the suitcase. Hopefully Buck wouldn’t find it weird that Eddie had finished his packing for him, and hopefully he wouldn’t unpack and repack everything, in fact if he timed it right, they could head straight back to his place after this and he could keep an eye on the suitcase all night to make sure the surprise wasn’t ruined.

Footsteps up the stairs startled him as Eddie ducked down to look under the bed and pulled Mr Snuffles out of his jacket and shoved him under the bed, just as Buck appeared at the top of the stairs Eddie shuffled out triumphant with Mr Snuffles in his hands. 

“Found him!” He called out a little too loud as if he hadn’t heard Buck approaching. He whirled around and genuinely startled at how close Buck was standing. 

“Under the bed,” Eddie explained, waving the stuffed toy at Buck, “I checked everywhere but man your bed was a mess,” Eddie complained, waving his hands around at the room where he’d folded the rest of the clothes and put them in neat piles at the foot of the bed.

“You finished my packing for me?” Of course Buck saw that first, Eddie tried not to stutter or make it weird. He was a dad and he could get through this if he did the dad thing.

“I was tidying up while I looked for Mr Snuffles, besides you don’t need that many clothes, it’s only a couple days and this way you can just come back with us now,” Buck gave him a funny look but seemed to shake it off and let it go as he smiled instead.

“Okay well I just gotta grab one more thing but meet you outside at the car?” Eddie could do nothing but nod dumbly as he panicked and made his way downstairs to find Chris sitting on the couch and bouncing eagerly.

Just because Buck wanted to pack something else, didn’t mean he was going to see the cold weather clothes Eddie packed, with luck he would just shove it in on top and not do any digging. Crisis mostly averted, Eddie gathered Chris up and they made their way down to the truck, Chris was secured in the backseat by the time Buck joined them. He hefted his suitcase into the backseat next to Chris and climbed in the passenger seat.

The rest of the afternoon and evening passed in a blur of Christmas movies and lego creations ending with an early night for all three of them, Eddie hadn’t been lying about the early start in the morning. He’d already booked the taxi to pick them up at 5am so they needed to get up at 4am if he was going to get Chris up and ready in time.

Eddie was so caught up getting every final thing ready in the morning that he didn’t realise he had no idea how to hide their destination from Buck until they were already pulling up to the airport. Making a quick excuse of taking Chris to the bathroom they devised a quick plan to keep Buck distracted until after they’d boarded. He didn’t think he could keep it a surprise once they had boarded but at east until the plane took off. 

As they made their way to check in and dropped the luggage with the staff and went through security, Chris kept up a steady stream of chatter aimed mostly at Buck which kept him distracted enough he didn’t check the destination when they got to the gate. Everything was proceeding perfectly. Chris was so good at his job of distracting Buck that they boarded and made it past pre-flight checks without Buck noticing they weren’t on a flight to Texas. Eddie had held their tickets the whole time and Buck had tuned out the pilot’s talk about their destination as he showed Chris all the things they could fiddle with on the chairs.

It wasn’t until about halfway through the flight, Chris fast asleep slumped against the window, that Buck turned to Eddie with a smirk in place and asked “So where are we really going?” He tilted his head back towards the window where he had been pointing things out to Chris earlier, “I know it’s not Texas,” 

So much for distracting Buck, Eddie thought but refused to let it get him down, just because Buck had caught him didn’t mean he couldn’t still keep the majority of the trip a surprise. 

“I don’t know what you’re talking about Buck, maybe we’re taking the scenic route,” he tried not to laugh at the offended look on Buck’s face but they settled back into silence, Buck seemingly realising he wasn’t going to get anything more out of Eddie in regards to their destination.

“Using Chris was real sneaky Diaz,” Buck murmured softly between them a few minutes later and Eddie ducked his head to hide the smile that Buck’s words produced.

**Author's Note:**

> The rest will be up within a few days, I hope you all stick around for the real fluff to ensue!


End file.
